University of California Los Angeles - Bruin Life / Southern Campus Yearbook (Los Angeles, CA)

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A Play Or, perhaps, just the Material for a Play There slioukl be a great American drama written about American school lite. If you could catch the genuine atmosphere of an Institution of Learn- ing! If you could re])roduce a characteristic I- acuity with their serious, responsible manners ; a characteristic student body with their frivolous, inditfcrcnt attitudes Go to, — why not? 1 shall seize upon this valuable material. .Myself and no other shall become in a night the long-looked-for truly American playwright. M ' name on every one ' s lips. My money in every theatre box-office. Now it only remains to hit upon an important, well-known school. One of wide-spread influence, with a national reputati(jn. I have it. The dear old Hall of Learning on Fifth street. More than fi e thousand brilliant minds, according to the official records. ha e felt its benign tuition. More than a hundred teachers have helped mould the vigorous minds of these noble young students. (This play could turn into just a commonplace farcical thing like Why Smith Left Home, ' nr What Happened to Jones, but L ' m not going to let it, would you? Lm going to keep it on a high plane, almost a Tragedy. It seems more dignified then. And Dignjity is so essential in any Institution, particularlv in an Institution of Learning.) Well, so much for Looking About. Of course, }(iu know this is not an easy task. — to do it on a really big scale. But I have a Strange Feeling Within that assures me an unrelenting Fate has named me as her Agent. (Notice that I sometimes capitalize un- important words. It is reminiscent of Thomas Carlyle and George Ade. The words are not really unimportant. They have a deep symbolic meaning to those having eyes to see (suggestive of Maeterlinck.) All this long pre- amble of explanationings is in the amusing but impressive vein of G. Bernard Shaw. Did you ever notice about his plays? You spend so much time getting through the Preface that the evening is gone and the real ])lay not begun. Xow. I ought to have something in here suggesting the influence of that gigantic modern, Henrik Ibsen. That is almost too easy. Why, to be sure ! I am fortunate in writing of a school where on the Faculty and in the Student Bodv are great, wonderful, peculiar, fascinating women. Ibsen does not make much of the men ' s parts. Neither do we. It ' s surprising, isn ' t it. that whenever we stop to look, we find ourselves so amazingly like the World ' s Greatest Ones? But, no matter, let ' s go on with the play. We are ready for the Name. Suppose we agree upon Climbing. That is both Realistic and Symbolic. Tableaus are eflfective. We will begin with a Tableau. A Great Build- ing on a High Hill. From every direction, innumerable hurrying throngs, climbing, climbing, steep inclines, long flights of steps. Climbing. They carrv books and boxes and bags. Some are young: some are old. Some are near-voung: some near-old.

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The last Imt not least is a bun, With our troubles we all to her run Yes. you have guessed, — We know she ' s the best, ril close mv iingle — it ' s Dunn. ' m

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Next, another Tableau. This time only the Building shows, — one wall removed. You see these people still climbing, climbing. Of course, the intelligent play-goer sees their Minds aspiring as well as their Feet. Next for the Faculty. Every group of animals, human or otherwise, has its leader. Bee-hi es, wood-choppers, and all. So likewise a Faculty. The President must be represented as tall. That is to symbolize the natural quality of Leadership. He must be dignified, reserved, yet. loved and rever- enced by all. As for the rest of the Faculty, all that is needed there to give veri- similitude, is infinite variety. First there are the Lady-Teachers and the Gentleman-Teachers. The Lady T ' s are much more learned and interesting, but the Gentlemen T ' s are much more important and popular, and for these reasons receixe larger salaries. The Gentlemen-Teachers mav ha c hair on the tops of their heads long and thick, black or red, or none at all. They can teach just the same. They may have any manner of facial appearance, cheerful or otherwise ; adorned with moustaches, small beards, large beards, or no decorations whatever. It ' s better to have them all married. This saves excessive heart-fiutterings among their co-workers or co-students. The Lady-Teachers are, as I suggested, more interesting. Ladies always are. Some of them need not be married when the Play begins, but the ' can get married while it ' s going on. These teachers can be of great variety also, — playful, solemn, at least almost serious-minded, clever, artistic, graceful, thoroughly responsible-looking, Nice People. Now the Play must show all these Indi iduals at Work. That ' s the hardest part. Do they Work? They look like it. They think so. Well, all we ' ve got to do is to get them to act like it, and we can surely hire some- body to wear their clothes and pretend. Then you must some way convey the impression of persistent repetition, repetition, repetition. Do you think we can manage that without having the House gradually withdraw and the Play Fail? It is momentous. (Re- member this is a Symbolic as well as a Realistic play. That makes every word have at least two meanings.) Also we might have one Act be a Faculty Meeting. They are such serious afTairs. We could try a student for her Life. Get together all the rumors ever rumored, and post-card pictures ever taken, compare impres- sions and condemn to Outer Darkness. Or we might be generous and rec- ommend her for some Fine Position where she could W ork Hard for Little Money. In many ways we could bring out the peculiar idiosyncracies of the dififerent Faculty members and indicate unmistakably their lasting love and interest in their Students, — just as we might in another Act show how deep-felt is the affection students bear their dear Teachers. The Great Hall of Audience ofifers dramatic opportunities. — or the Base- ment. But it is time for the Curtain to Rise.